BANGALORE: Once a playful child, seven-year-old Shrija is now quiet. She talks only to her mother Smitha, 32, and counsellors. The child was five when her maternal grandfather sexually abused her for over a year when her mother used to go to work.

Life has never been the same for Smitha, a teacher, ever since she found out the truth. Kinship for her is now fraught with minefields. For, she is waging a war against her parents and siblings to protect the life and rights of her daughter.

"I am a single mother and had been staying with my parents for over three years. Shrija was a very talkative and playful child but she suddenly stopped talking or interacting with anyone about six-seven months back. She just wanted to move out of my parents' house. I asked her the reason but she did not open up. One day, I slowly gained her confidence, and she broke down. She told me that 'grandpa is touching me down' (private parts)," Smitha says.

But a bigger shock was in store for Smitha when she found out that her mother knew about her father's crime but kept quiet. Her elder brother and sister refused to stand by her, saying it will tarnish the family's reputation.

"I had no option but to go to the police against my father and family. I reached the police station around 2pm that day but my FIR was registered only at 10pm. The officials 'tried to convince' me that I must not bring out my family matter in public and sort out the issue at home. But I stood by my daughter and lodged the FIR," she says.

Her family went absconding and there has been no progress in the case for over four months now. "Had I not been supported by volunteers and counsellors of Enfold Trust, I would not have been able to fight this battle. Shrija is slowly coming to terms with the outrage and is now going out to play with friends. But she has become far too mature for her age," she says.